​Two winters ago, with record-breaking snow fall, the City identified locations where on-street parking contributed to increasingly narrow roads that became challenging for two-way traffic flow. During declared snow emergencies, the City will ask that those targeted streets be cleared of parked cars, to help crews plow from curb to curb and prevent unmanageable berms in the travel lanes.
 
Last winter, the City kicked-off a pilot program to designate targeted Snow Emergency Zone parking restrictions during snow emergencies. However, due to the mild winter, no snow emergencies were declared. The City will keep this pilot program in place in the event of a large snow storm.
 
Emergency Snow Zones for the winter of 2018-19 are:

• Wall Street (Portland Avenue to Colorado Avenue)
• Bond Street (Wall Street to Colorado Avenue)
• Chandler Avenue (Mt. Washington Drive to Century Drive)
• Portland Street (11th Street to College Way)
• NE Courtney Drive (27th Street to Conners Avenue)
• NE Conners Avenue (27th Street to Courtney Drive)
• NW Broadway Street (Franklin Avenue / Riverside Boulevard to Colorado Avenue)
• NW Tumalo Avenue (Riverside Boulevard to Broadway Street)
• 17th Street and Troon Avenue (Galveston Avenue to Mt. Washington Drive)

 
After the City Manager declares a “snow emergency,” there will be a 12-hour period of time when parking will not be allowed on these streets. This allows for complete plowing of the street from curb to curb. Once a street has been completely plowed from curb to curb, drivers are welcome to return to the street to park during the snow emergency.
 
To receive notifications when a snow emergency is declared, people can sign up for “snow emergency notifications” at www.bendoregon.gov/enews to. (Those who have signed up for other news notifications you will need to go into enews and change preferences to include emergency snow zone notifications.) Or, check www.bendoregon.gov if it’s snowing to find out if a snow emergency has been declared. People can also call City of Bend Streets and Operations at 541-323-5980 to find out if a snow emergency has been declared.
 
The City doesn’t intend to tow cars, but if crews have to tow, to create safe streets, it will be at no cost to the driver and relocation areas will be identified.
 
“Do your neighbors a favor: Don’t get plowed around,” said Streets and Operations Department Director David Abbas. “Plowing around parked cars can end up leaving a berm that would be difficult for a person with a shovel to remove.”
 
Everyone has a responsibility to prepare for winter. Learn what to expect at www.bendoregon.gov/winter.